Offered by Antiquités Rigot et Fils
A very rare pair of gilt and finely chiseled bronze firedogs or andirons, adorned with sphinxes resting on an entablature set upon four cabriole legs.
Does not the bust of the sphinx evoke the elegant silhouette of the espagnolette, created by Charles Cressent and inspired by the drawings of Watteau?
And does not the entablature, here centered with a female mask flanked by dolphins, recall the famous sarcophagus-shaped commode made for the King's bedchamber, delivered by André-Charles Boulle?
With its original gilding.
Dating from the first quarter of the 18th century.
The entablature, a fundamental recurring motif in the decorative narrative of the Louis XIV style.